Swimming Lessons
by Olivia von Dread
Summary: We're all gonna drown! Written for the Fallout Kink Meme.


This was written for the Fallout Kink Meme. The prompt: _Rain is a rare enough sight in the mojave, but the Courier of course has no idea what it is, and no one has thought to explain it to him/her. Then all of a sudden, it does rain- Cue the Courier flipping shit and the companion's reaction._

__Let me know how you like it. :D

* * *

It wasn't unexpected but it was still a surprise all the same.

Veronica watched in shock as Six stopped in place, eyes wide and crossed to focus on the tip of her nose. "'Ronnie… I think a cazador just took a shit on me…"

Veronica _had_ to laugh at that. The courier was only 17, a decade younger than her and still relatively new to life in the Mojave. New in the sense that she seemed to have forgotten all of the aspects of living after being shot in the head twice. So it was no surprise that she didn't know what rain was, because it rarely ever rained in the Mojave.

"Six, it's rain. You know? That stuff that falls from the sky every now and then? We aren't even anywhere near a cazador nest…" She pointed to the bright lights of the Tops sign. But the girl didn't understand and she swatted in vain at the droplets that fell through the air. It had turned into a downpour rather quickly and she took Six's hand, pulling her into the nearby casino.

Once inside, Six's panic seemed to die down. "Well if it isn't my favorite girls! Welcome back!" Veronica looked over to the front desk where the head of the Chairmen stood, a charming smile on his friendly face. She knew the man well enough by now to call him by name—Six often made her wait with him if she had quick business to take care of in the casino—so she smiled politely and tugged the younger girl a little closer to the desk with her.

"Hi, Swank. I was wondering if you could possibly explain—" Veronica couldn't get another word in before Six was clutching the counter, hands white as a ghost. Guess the panic didn't die down at all.

"Swank! Swank, the outside! It turned into a lake! You have to be careful, board up the doors before the water gets in and we all drown!" Her eyes looked maniacal as drops of water fell from her brown hair onto the floor. Swank gave her a disbelieving look at first, but after looking at Veronica he seemed to understand. He smiled, chuckling a little under his breath.

"Is it really? I've gotta take a look at this then." He stepped around the counter, ignoring Six's frantic warnings to peek out the door. Veronica could see his eyebrows rise, and he closed it, whistling. "Well I'll be damned. First rain of the year. Nothin' for you to worry about Six, I've got it under control."

Six was terrible at understanding basic concepts. It was probably because she was so old that relearning so much was difficult for her. It had been a lot easier when there was a whole group to re-teach her the ways of the Mojave. But she was the only one left—Boone had reenlisted with the NCR, Cass had started up another caravan and Raul had gone with her, Lily went back to Jacobstown, Rex went back to the King. And Arcade, the only man who was able to get through to her in a simple and effective manner, he went back to Old Mormon Fort. She sort of wished that he was still around, because she wasn't so good with calming Six down. And ED-E could never do much but beep at them, and he was back up in the Lucky 38, safe and sound from the dangers of rain.

Six was now on the floor, legs crossed and hyperventilating. She was chanting the same phrase over and over again: _we're gonna die_. It was getting worrisome. Veronica looked to Swank for help and he sighed, kneeling down and reaching in his pocket. He fished out a pouch filled with caps, probably several dozen and placed it in the couriers hand.

"Hey kid, go get yourself a drink and sit yourself down at a slot machine for a while, would ya?"

She looked up at him, eyes still wide. "I thought you said I was too young to drink."

But Swank rolled his eyes and hefted her up with him, somehow managing to avoid messing up that suit of his. "You are. That's why they'll only serve you wine. Now go on." He nudged her over to the direction of the stairs, and then gave one of the other Chairmen some sort of signal. The man nodded and followed Six at a distance.

Veronica sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry. Knowing her is kind of like raising a child. A really cute child. With a nice chest. But you know what I'm saying, right?"

"Sure do, babydoll. She's one hell of a manager for the strip, I'll give you that. But she's nicer on the caps then Mr. House was, so I guess it's a start. Are you gonna go after her?"

She wanted to, yes. But she wouldn't. She couldn't handle the task at the moment.

A part of Veronica really, really liked Six. She was a cute girl, after all, and sweet and funny. But it wasn't meant to be. The courier was too jumpy, too confused.

"I think I'll just leave her here for a bit if that's okay with you." She had an idea. Maybe she could put an end to this and help her realize that she wasn't going to drown if she went outside.

Swank shrugged. "It's alright with me. Just don't forget to pick her up later."

Veronica said her goodbyes and tore down the Strip as fast as she could.

"So what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"

"You have to explain this weather to her. I can't do it and there's no chance that she'll leave the Tops in this weather. I figured its better to get it done now instead of later when we're out in the wastes if it happens again."

Veronica and Arcade had a very strained relationship at first. She was the only member of their former ragtag group other than Six who knew his origins, and it was mostly due to her own deductions. They kept conversation at a bare minimum at best, and she was always a little cautious about saying certain things in front of him. But around the time when they began to move in on Hoover Dam they were forced to get closer. Everyone took turns guarding their camps in groups, Lily and ED-E, Cass and Raul, and Six and Boone had decided to keep Rex up with them. She and Arcade spent an entire graveyard shift talking about some of the more interesting pre-war literature they had read, which opened up a world of common grounds to be discussed. And she had to admit, the man was a warrior in Tesla armor.

Arcade didn't look too pleased about being dragged from the Fort to the Strip, however. It probably didn't help that it was still pouring rain. But he went along with her anyway. "So why is she so scared of it anyway?"

Veronica laughed. "It's typical Six. You know she's like an infant or something. We had to teach her a lot of what she knows. She doesn't like what she doesn't understand."

Arcade sighed, running a hand through his soaked blond locks. "Figures. Alright then, let's see what I can do."

They entered the casino as a loud crack of lightning struck somewhere in the distance.

Six was sitting at the blackjack table, a bottle of uncorked wine in her lap and a rather large sack of chips beside her. The girl was a natural at the game, so it wasn't really surprising that she had bypassed the idea of slot machines for this instead. She looked up and had to do a double take. She quickly signaled to the dealer to leave her out of the game before she moved over to Arcade, hugging him tightly across his midsection.

"Veronica, you're so brave! You went out to save Arcade before he could drown! Are you okay?" She looked up at him with bright blue eyes.

"I'm alright, Six. I'm a little more worried about you. Why don't we step outside for a moment?" Arcade took her small hand in his large one, something he often did when trying to explain things to her. Veronica never understood it. She could tell the man wasn't much of a people person and, as a result, a touching person, but maybe having to coach the teenager through so many things helped him open up just a bit more.

It would explain why she could safely call him a friend.

Six wasn't having any of it. "No! No, we can't go back out there, Arcade! We'll drown! We'll all die!"

"It's alright Six, I know how to swim."

Veronica's eyes widened. Why hadn't she thought of it herself? Obviously if the courier thought they would drown, all she would need to learn how to do was _swim_! Arcade was really good at this teaching stuff. She picked up Six's sack of chips and took the wine bottle from her hand before she spilled it all over the casino.

The courier kept protesting, but she was effectively silenced when Arcade hefted her up with one arm to drag her along in an unexpected show of strength. Six was quieted, and she went limp like a ragdoll, resigning herself to her assumed doom.

On the way out Veronica gave Swank a grateful smile, and deposited the bag onto the front counter, mouthing a thank you. Swank waved absently, distracted by the sorry sight of the Strip manager being dragged into the outside world.

When they got outside, it took a bit more work from Arcade to actually get her from under the awning and into the rain. But it happened, and when it did, she immediately started screaming, flailing about and sputtering and waving her arms wildly at the precipitation. Veronica shrunk a little; she supposed this was what it was like to have children that misbehaved in public. Frankly it was embarrassing, and she was happy that no one was outside to see them.

The rain was falling very hard, so hard that she wondered if Six had a right to be scared of it. But Arcade stood back for a full minute as he watched Six roll about on the floor, terrified. Finally, he called out to her. "Hey, Six, look at that! You're swimming!"

Veronica looked at Six. Six looked at Arcade. But then, her face brightened. "Hey! Hey, I am! Hey, look 'Ronnie, I can swim now! I learned how to swim!" She lifted herself up and jumped around, suddenly basking in the water that had been drowning her moments ago.

Veronica was just about to commend Arcade on another job well done and offer to walk home with him through the rain when a loud clap of thunder hit, and a bolt of lightning illuminated the entire Strip, casting ominous shadows. Very, very ominous shadows.

Six froze, her eyes locked onto where the shadow of the Tops awning had landed a short ways away. Suddenly, she shrieked. "It's the Kraken!" She bolted back into the casino.

Veronica and Arcade looked at each other, and it was plainly obvious what they were thinking.

How in the hell did she know what a kraken was?


End file.
